At the Borough Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 27, Greiner, using census data supplied by resident Lois Stewart, said, Flemington has the lowest median income in the county, the highest poverty rate, an usually high rate of tenants compared to owners, HUD housing and a stagnant national economy.

“All of these things indicate that you are likely to see an increase in property-maintenance issues just like you are seeing in police-related issues,” he said. “Meanwhile we’re still paying the same $7,800 to a guy who we hired in 2005.”

Back then Tirpok was expected to work 35 hours a month. Last year he was averaging 56 hours a month, and this year, 69 hours a month. But for the past three months Tirpok has been putting in 84 hours a month, Greiner said.

Greiner is in charge of the borough’s property maintenance efforts, which have come under the spotlight after a marketing study performed by the Strategic Advisory Group for the Flemington Business Improvement District.

The SAG report said Flemington is at “the tipping point,” where bold action is needed on several fronts to prevent a steep downward slide, and property maintenance is one of those fronts.

“We have to change how we go about property management or we’ve got to put a little bit more resource into the function in order to keep up with these social issues,” Greiner told council. “We’re getting more and more requests as you know, and we need to deal with it.”

Greiner said, “I hope you are starting to see some progress at least in the way we are looking at some of these properties. I know that the BID has been appreciative and I think we are starting to make some headway in these last four weeks and will continue to do so.”

His statement elicited no immediate reaction from his colleagues that night.